The Fifth Yahrtzeit Candle
Of course, Goldman wasn't the
only Jewish player from that period.
Attorneys Marcia Clark, Robert
Shapiro and Barry Scheck all achieved
we years ago, two innocent
new levels of notoriety as a result of
people were slashed to
the trial. But hearing Goldman
death in the front yard of
referred to as "Mrs. Simpson's friend"
an upscale condominium in
throughout the case, minimized his
Brentwood, Calif. The resulting crimi-
identity.
nal trial polarized the races in this
Defense attorneys sometimes use
country and permanently etched the
this tactic to dissuade jurors from
memories of my generation.
identifying with the victims. But we
As various news media mark the
should make an effort to identify with
anniversary, it is curious that the
them. We should focus on
household names that remain
Nicole and Ron, not on the
INIMIMMINIEN.1.11.11M....1.1111111.11.11.111M.1.11.11.11•
are not those of the victims —
survivors who cashed in on
Ron Goldman and Nicole
the crime. Rather than worry-
Brown Simpson — but those of
ing about Marcia Clark's latest
other individuals, sometimes
hairdo or Johnnie Cochran's
just the bit players in the
penchant for rhyme, we
drama. Former O.J. Simpson
should be thinking about Ron
houseguest, Kato Kaelin, has
Goldman and his family. We
parlayed his 15 minutes of
should consider that a Jewish
fame into a B-level acting
family must now light a
career, for example, and foul-
yahrtzeit candle and recite
mouthed detective Mark
Kaddish at this time each year
Fuhrman hosts his own radio
in memory of their son, who
show in Seattle.
was slain at the age of 25.
I should have known that
Someday, the children I
was coming.
expect to have will ask me to
Throughout the Simpson
recount my memories about
case, I worked on a legal televi-
the Simpson case in much
sion show largely born out of
the same way as I begged my
that trial. Nearly every day our
parents to tell me how they
hosts analyzed, dissected, scru-
remember President John F.
tinized and pontificated on
Kennedy's assassination. I
each and every aspect of the
hope my children will want
case. Guests included Simpson's
to hear about more than just
attorneys and a host of self-
the media frenzy surrounding
described "experts" on criminal
the case — the bloody socks
law who were all too eager to
found at the foot of O.J.'s
share their thoughts on
bed, and the plaintive wail of
Simpson's guilt or innocence
Nicole's dog, Kato, on the
with the viewing public.
night of the murders.
Hundreds of useless tidbits
For the families of Nicole
of information are permanently
Brown
Simpson and Ronald
Ron Goldman
etched in my brain. I know
Goldman, every day is a
that the ice cream that was
reminder of the senseless
found melting on Nicole
crime.
Unlike
the rest of us who just
Ron Goldman. If he had lived in
Brown Simpson's staircase on the
tuned
into
the
trial for its entertain-
Atlanta, it is possible that we would
night of her murder was Ben & Jerry's
ment
value,
the
Browns and
have shared the same circle of friends.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. I
Goldmans
suffered
a loss that cannot
I can remember editing portions of
remember that Ron Goldman had
be
quantified
by
high
ratings or expert
his sister Kim's bat mitzvah video to air
dreams of opening a restaurant he
legal
analysis.
on our show. Watching the young Ron
planned to call "Ankh." And I will
Behind all the glitz and glamour
hamming it up on the dance floor and
never forget the awkward stumbling
that
surfaced in the wake of the trial,
crooning into the microphone with his
pronunciation of the name "Orenthal"
let
us
remember that not everyone
as
a
per-
him
father, I could relate to
involved in the Simpson case is better
son
whose
family
shared
a
certain
level
Dina Fuchs is a senior staff writer
off for it. 1 1
of religious tradition with me.
for the Atlanta Jewish Times.
DINA FUCHS
Special to the Jewish News
pi
during the reading of the verdict in
the criminal trial.
Perhaps all this will come in handy
during a game of Trivial Pursuit in the
year 2020.
But what's been lost in all the
minutiae are the deaths of two people.
One was a mother who would have
continued to play a huge role in the
lives of her children. The other was a
young Jewish guy only a year older
than I am.
I always felt a sort of kinship with
Five years later, we barely
remember the victims
in the Simpson case.
Remember
When •
From the pages of The Jewish News
for this week 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50
years ago.
1989
Jason Tickton, long-time Temple Beth
El music director, died at age 74.
Three terrorists who allegedly
made the bomb that blew up Pan
Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie,
Scotland, were identified as having
been released from an Israeli jail in
a 1985 prisoner exchange. •
1979
The Canadian state-owned airline Air
Canada signed a contract with Saudi
Arabia for the maintenance of Saudi
aircraft and barring Israeli nationals
from such maintenance work.
Attorneys for Valerian Trifa, the
head of the Romanian Orthodox
Church, asked a federal court judge
to dismiss the government's citizen-
ship suit against their client.
1969
Ida Rosenberg, longtime member
of the Berdichev-Keshenev-
Zhitomir Aid Society, was honored
by the group at an Israel anniver-
sary celebration on the eve of her
departure to Israel.
Shirley Louise Anderson of
Rochester, N.Y., became the first
tourist to die in the Arab-Israel
conflicts.
1959
Some 1,800 physicians on the staffs
of clinics and hospitals conducted
by Histadrut's Kupat Holim, the
Israel Federation of Labor sick fund,
went on a 24-hour warning strike.
Sam Rich, president of Acorn
Aluminum Products, was named
contractor of the year by Jewish
Vocational Service.
1949
The chief rabbi of a tribe of Jewish
cave dwellers in Tripolitania arrived
in Haifa aboard a ship bringing 455
immigrants to Israel.
Twenty-eight midshipmen,
members of the 1949 graduating
class of the United States Naval
Academy, each received a Bible
inscribed with his name from the
National Jewish Welfare Board
Division of Religious Activities.
6/18
1999
Detroit Jewish News
35